


Destcember 2020

by Crystal_Rose_Witch



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Found Family, Potential spoilers for Forsaken ending, The Last Wish (Destiny), The Red War (Destiny)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27831910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystal_Rose_Witch/pseuds/Crystal_Rose_Witch
Summary: This was going to be a series but I'm putting them into one singular work as multiple chapters. These will feature my main fire team and their friends as the focuses of each chapter with appearances of other canon characters. Rating set for future chapters as a precaution but these will be pretty clean.
Kudos: 2





	1. Exodus

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1: Exodus, featuring my awoken hunter Zaazi Genj.  
> The evacuation of the City give one hunter time to reflect on the times and how they compare to the past.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 1: Exodus, featuring my awoken hunter Zaazi Genj.  
> The evacuation of the City give one hunter time to reflect on the times and how they compare to the past.

Standing there on that mountainside, listening to the emergency frequency again the hunter couldn’t believe it. The city was gone; taken by the brutes that were commanded from that hulking monstrosity in the sky that had dared go after the Traveler. The guardians that could help at least a few refugees escape while escaping themselves did so. “We need to keep moving…” She looked at the small group of survivors that were with her. Most able-bodied, a few children but they weren't very young. She tugged her tattered cloak around her shoulders more. To think they used to look up at her with stars in their eyes at her amazing armor and now she was as worn as anything else was. There used to be a time she wouldn't be caught dead looking like this; but that was then, this was now, this was survival.

There was chatter over the more scaled emergency lines that there was a meeting place for refugees to gather, come together, and form a resistance to the Cabal. Naturally, that was where she felt she had to lead this weary band that was gathered around the small fires they had built to keep warm to be with more of their own kind. “This is an exodus…” The scout rifle in her hands felt heavy as she thought back to those stories she had heard of the colony ships and the colonists hoping to build homes amongst the stars. She had been one of them at one point. A colonist aboard the Exodus Green; bound for space and the unknown. Now she was by most standards an inhuman thing; an awoken born in space, blessed by the stars and it showed in the abnormal skin and hair, the glowing eyes, and the starlight that was seemingly bound to be a constant recurring wave across her skin.

Shaking her head, the hunter scanned the horizon through the slightly cracked scope of the rifle. “Guardian?” Still, she was called that so she turned to look at the civilian that was addressing her, lowering the rifle as she did so. They were holding a small offering of rations out to her; cooked meat from some of the small animals that they had managed to hunt down and cook, “Here, you don’t have the light anymore so you’re as human as the rest of us. You need to eat too now.” They didn't need to care this much about her. She wouldn't understand who people who would avoid her because of her light or what she was were now willing to treat her as one of their own.

Looking down at the offering she settled her rifle in her lap and accepted the gift, “Thank you. How is everyone fairing? We’re about a day’s trip from the rendezvous point. Get some rest citizen, we’ll be moving out early tomorrow,” The civilian nodded, leaving the hunter to her watch and returning to the others. This was an exodus of the Last City, but unlike the human that happened before the Collapse; these people were going to have somewhere to come back to; She was going to make sure of that. She had been part of an exodus from the earth once, it wasn’t something she was going to wish on anyone. No, this exodus wasn’t going to be permanent.


	2. Thin Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Thin Ice, featuring my beloved warlock main Jack-21  
> The first time invading in Gambit can be interesting, scary even. It always pays to have a trick or two up your sleeve.

What had he been thinking? Yeah, the portal looked interesting and he wasn’t going to lie he wanted to see what it was like on the other side, but now that he was over there the warlock realized he was, how did the golden age saying go? Skating on thin ice? Yeah, that was it. Ducking down behind a rock on the Emerald Coast he reloaded the rifle in his hands. It was a trusty sniper; a Fate Cries Foul that had seen him through the prison and beyond while he was on the shore and looked around again. “They’re coming for you you know…” He didn't need to hear his ghost remind him of that as he aimed down sights, catching the sight of a titan on the other side near the bank, and fired. His shot went wide and the void walker swore at having just given away his position to the other three that were searching for him. Looks like he was going to be doing this the hard and slightly explosive way.

Keeping track of the other three he switched off of the sniper to an auto rifle and ducked under the bank; that titan with fourteen motes wasn’t going to make it far despite the fact the warlock knew well that the other three could tell what he was doing. “Come on…” A shot grazed his helmet as the callout came that he had ten seconds left on the clock before he would get pulled back to his own side. His auto rifle made quick work of the warlock that came up to challenge him but he could see that though he couldn’t have prevented a blocker from being dropped on his own team they had made for the spawn point. “On a scale of one to ten, how cheap is this attack gonna be?” They were waiting to see what he was going to do and the timer was costing down so he had to do this quick.

Blinking up and around twice so he could see the trail to the spawn point, he ran right for it, auto rifle still out. “Guardian, your super’s full, if you’re gonna do it, now’s the time!” That was what he was waiting for so he jumped up to avoid a grenade launcher and launched the nova bomb straight into the spawn. Too bad he didn’t get to see the results; Drifter pulled him back to his own side, telling him that he had had a good hunting trip when it popped up on his feed that he had managed to take down three opposing guardians with the nova bomb. That made him smile as Drifter laughed about the fact he had just wiped out three guardians to eat his first Army of One: that one warlock died twice.

Shaking off the feeling of the transmat the warlock headed back out but now kept his eye on the portal to the opposing side. He had been skating on thin ice as the saying went but he had lived through it, got a taste of the invasion portal, the adrenaline, and he would have been lying if he said he didn’t want it again.


	3. Dearest Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Dearest Wish, featuring my titan Theo-12.  
> Everyone wishes for something. Some wishes were better left unwished for though, no matter how tempting they are.

“All you need is wish it."  
That was what the Siren of Riven had said to him as he and his team approached the Dreaming City’s entrance to the chamber where the ‘wish dragon’ was located. “Wish it huh?” The sun breaker stopped in his tracks while the rest of the team started debating tactics for handling Riven. “All I need do is wish?” He shook his head. That was going to be a bad idea. There was only one thing that he would ever wish for like that and that was to have his original fire team back.

He couldn’t be thinking about this right now. He needed to focus on the task at hand which was taking down Riven. “Hey guys…” The Ahamkara fell easily enough once they figured out what they were doing. “…if you could wish for anything, and I mean anything, from one of those…things…what would it be?” They laughed about it; about what they would wish for.

From ridiculous things to well thought out ones they talked about it the whole way back to the Tower. “Why do you want to know Theo?” One of the hunters, a gunslinger, turned to him as they made their way out of the hangars, “What would you wish for? You didn't say anything about it when we were in transit.”

Theo sighed, taking a moment to consider his words. “I would probably wish to…to see my old fire team again,” His voice dropped off as he stalled, scuffing his boot on the floor. “Jack and Zaazi aren't my original fire team. I lost my hunter and warlock during the siege of the City. The two I’m with now were in need of a titan and the two of them kind of took me on as their third member…but still…the tore two…they…they’re gone…” this was still a sensitive topic for him, despite it being so many years ago now. It still felt like yesterday that they were all still together, running strikes on the Moon and Mars.

The hunter stood listening in silence before moving forwards to put his hand on the other guardian’s forearm, “I know…I only lost one of the members of my team, another hunter, but I was part of one of the many recovery and rescue teams after the war ended…but you’re here, you still carry their memories with you so they are never truly gone, right?” In a way the hunter was right, everyone seems to have lost someone during the attack but they were never truly gone. “You sure you would wish for them to come back though? You know those wishes come with some serious ramifications…” That again was true. Would he really wish for that not knowing what would come from it?

The titan turned and looked out at the mountains visible from where they were, “No…I wouldn’t wish for them to come back…I just…want to know they are in peace that’s all. That’s all I would wish for.” He would have been lying if he said he didn’t want to physically see them but they had heard what had happened when the awoken Prince had made that kind of wish; it hadn’t ended well. He had people who cared about him, took him in not long after his loss, and that was more than some guardians after the war had. Looking back Theo considered himself fortunate. It was a nice thing to wish for; to see lost loved ones again, but he was certain now he would never wish for something like that. These kinds of wishes were too dangerous.


	4. Eye for an Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Eye for an eye. Featuring my awoken hunter Zaazi Genj.  
> As the saying goes an eye for an eye makes the world go blind. There are multiple ways to go blind though, not all of them including losing one's physical vision.

It would have been so easy. Blow his head off, make him suffer, and die the same way he made Cayde suffer. No, no she couldn’t do that. Not after seeing the corrupted servitor and how scared he was of it. “Guardian?” Her ghost’s voice snapped her out of her stupor and she stared at the ace of spades in her hand. If she shot him it would have made her no better than he was. What was the point? Ace couldn’t fire anyway; it was too damaged. Too broken.

She holstered the Ace of Spades where her better devils had once been and instead drew her pulse rifle, turning her back to him, “An eye for an eye and the whole world would go blind…” Turning back around the huntress glared at the forsaken prince, “No, you don’t deserve the mercy that death would bring you. You don’t serve it at all,” Casting a glance to her side she could see Petra approaching the two of them, the Vestian Dynasty in hand. Part of her wanted to defend the prince, protect Uldren from whatever Petra was going to do yet she knew she couldn’t. He had become corrupted and essentially turned on the awoken people of the reef; her people. All due to a wish to see his sister again.

In many ways, she couldn’t fault him. The reef was lost after they lost the queen but that wasn’t her main concern. Even if she had accompanied her fellow guardian and fireteam member to the Vestian outpost to see Mara and her brother while the warlock had been searching for a way into the Black Garden. Uldren had been so devout to his sister though Zaazi wasn’t going to lie; if Uldren had made any kind of threat towards the warlock at that point she would have turned him to ash with a golden gun. No, if's, and's, or buts about it. It didn't matter to her if she was also a reef-born or not.

Things were different now though as she closed her eyes and turned away from him. She knew what was coming as she heard the single gunshot ring through the empty chasm. This one wasn’t going to be on her hands. That much was certain. “May the darkness keep you in silence and peace…prince,” It was quiet, whispered, as she tugged her hood up over her head more as if trying to hide her eyes despite wearing a helmet.

All she could hope for was that he was given a proper burial. A proper awoken send-off despite what he had done. It was over, done, I was worried I would have regrets after this was all done and over with…but…” She faced Petra again, finally removing her helmet, blue eyes hard yet still saddened. “I have no regrets. This is finally behind us…I just hope this will put Cayde to rest wherever he is. I took out Taniks for Cayde as retribution for Andal, I wiped out Skolas because I was asked to by the Queen…this though…this was all on me. The hunting of the barons, hunting down Uldren, it was all on me. I wasn’t asked to do it by anyone else.” Finally, she turned to walk away from the scene, “I have to report back to Ikora about what happened…but remember Petra: an eye for an eye only makes you blind and nothing more.” Zaazi disappeared into a transmat to her ship so she could return to the Tower. At least she wasn’t the one that almost went blind from this.


	5. Triad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Triad, featuring the entirety of Fireteam BlackLight.  
> The two allies by your side is all you have, especially in a hostile alien world where everything wants you dead.

A fireteam was three people. Three guardians who had decided to come together and defend the Light from the Darkness. At least, that’s what they were supposed to be. Theo sat down on a chunk of ice in Cadmus Ridge, taking a breather after the three of them had finished wiping out the Vex from the Lost Sector. “Aren’t fireteams meant to be ‘protectors of the Light’?” He had to put his perfect paradox in his lap so he could make the air quotes on his statement before he picked the gun back up.

Zaazi, the team hunter turned and looked at him after shouldering her scout rifle, “Yeah, that’s the gist of what we’re told when we make it to the Tower…but aren’t we still protecting the Light? We still have access to our Light bearing subclasses,” As if to prove her point she summoned a flaming knife to her hand. “You’ve been listening to the Commander too much. What did Shaxx say when you showed him your Stasis power? He said as long as you treat it like any other power there is nothing wrong with it, didn’t he? And didn't Saint say almost the same thing?” The titan nodded, “Well then, who would you rather listen to? The two titans who inspired you to be what you are today? Or…the Commander…” She didn’t bother trying to hide her distaste for the other awoken man as she scowled under her helmet. “If Zavala has a problem, I’d say screw ‘em. We have each other if things get bad. We’ve been through hell and back multiple times over, we got this, we’ll be fine.” Looking up at the sound of combat she sighed, "And that sounds like Jack found something."

The Exo titan nodded again as he got to his feet just in time to see their other teammate come around the corner, the exotic fusion rifle in his hands in place of his usual; kinetic auto rifle. “All right…I may or may not have angered some fallen out there…” The shade binder shifted on his feet, knocking the packed ice off of the soles, arc laser burns peppering his helmet as well as the tail and arms of his robe. “They shot first…I just returned fire…literally. They were out of the range of my auto.” The hunter shook her head and laughed. There wasn’t much the warlock wasn’t willing to kill with his solar fusion rifle if his beloved auto rifle didn’t cut it. “Ready to move out? Won’t be long before they come looking for us. We should get moving soon.” The warlock traded back to his auto rifle then turned to the others. Zaazi gave a thumbs up and Theo just nodded, shotgun in hand again. “Shall we go?”

Zaazi smiled then looked to Theo and back to the warlock, “To the ends of the system and beyond.” At that, they headed out of the cavern, side by side. A fireteam of three friends, hellbent on taking on whatever the system had to throw at them and they were going to do it side by side; a warlock, a hunter, and a titan.


	6. Nightmare before Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Nightmare before Dawn, featuring Jack-21 the warlock  
> Not all Nightmares deal with Darkness not do they happen when you're asleep. Sometimes the worst ones are the people you meet.

Nightmares were always the worst as a guardian. There was no way to get around them. Jack-21 was no stranger to these nightmares; be it awake or asleep. The worse ones though were not the typical nightmare that all Exos had: the Stone Tower dream, no, the worst were the real living nightmares. Not all of them were produced by the Darkness nor the hive either. Some of the worst were those that held the Light. This titan before him was some of those nightmares.

“You will NEVER understand the amazement that is the Light!” This guardian, a titan if the armor could be believed, was standing over him, having attempted to beat him to a pulp over the fact he was walking around in a full set of Gambit armor, notorious Prime Reaper at that, and was proceeding to goad him about his choices. “Never! You nor that snake oil merchant!”

That made Jack laugh. If only they had known why the warlock had been so aggressive during the match, “Joke’s on you, you can’t beat me to a pulp no matter how hard you try,” If he had been bleeding and didn’t still have his helmet on he would have spat it at the titan. “Not even with your fancy hammer,” He struck the titan’s leg in the back of the knee with the barrel of his shotgun to make him fall which allowed the warlock enough time to get free. Now that he was back up on his feet Jack got a better look at the guy; crucible armor, ritual weapons from the Crucible, the guy just screamed hardcore comp try-hard. “If you don’t like Gambit, don’t play it. Simple as that. Jerk!” He had to throw that in there.

The fact he was a devout crucible player wasn’t the issue with the Gambit veteran. It was the fact the guy was coming into the Gambit and making it a living nightmare for those that actually enjoyed the game that irked him. The Exo would never admit it that he got a bit of sick pleasure from killing the guy three times in a single match, twice in a single invasion that got him the new cannon that he had to go see Drifter about.

The titan growled but walked away from him after that, “All of you that play that rigged mess are heathens! You don’t deserve the Light’s gifts!” Even though she wasn’t visible Jack could practically feel his ghost rolling her eye at the other guardian’s antics so he just kept walking, turning right when he reached Drifter’s doorway.

He wasn’t even bothering to dust himself off and straighten his armor, “Hey Drift, I think we’re finished making this thing…” He didn’t miss the passive glance Drifter cast at his armor with a cocked brow, “Don’t ask, someone was just mad at me about the match earlier…” He rolled his shoulders before handing the information over to him. Drifter just smiled and took the information, handing him a weapon back in return. “Malfeasance huh?” He smiled and put the gun on his belt, “Thanks Drifter, it looks like a nice piece of work…” The way the taken light rippled across the interior of the gun was unnerving, but this was all right. This was not a single thing like the nightmare that he had just encountered. No, not all nightmares were made by Darkness or in your sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was inspired by the actual match that got me my Malfeasance hand cannon. An opposing titan carrying all crucible weapons and playing like a jerk. Once the match was over I got a pretty bad message from him about my playing during the match. The dialogue is taken from the message itself. So, wherever you are guardian from that match, this one's for you!


	7. Beyond Stasis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 7: Beyond Stasis. Featuring a Dark timeline au version of my warlock with mentions to the other members of the fire team.  
> In the Dark Timeline nothing is the same. No one is left to challenge the once great god-slayer except for the Man with the Golden Gun, but even he knows when he's been bested.

He had gone too far. He knew he had but it was a delicate tipping point. The wind whipped the snow up around his feet, sending swirls of crystalized silicon and ice up into the air. “I’ve been waiting for you,” He turned to face the hunter who was approaching him. He knew who it was, knew what they were here for. He flicked the frozen shard up into the air. “So, I know what I did to get your attention, I know why you’re here,” He looked the hunter up and down.

Who knew what he would have been in some other timeline, but here he was the Dredgen. One of the darkest and worst beings known. He had killed off more people than needed in the sol system. Calus was dead, The Vanguard commander wasn’t anymore. He had no idea where Ana and her sister were anymore but Eris was dead which to him was all the better. “Why…that’s all we need to know…”

The Exo turned, the jade coin he had taken from Drifter after he surprisingly spared the rogue light-bearer hung on the now brown cord around his neck over his armor. The man himself was standing just off to his side; blinded in one eye and lacking any sort of light, Drifter was as human as he had never been before. The only reason he was still alive was that Jack had promised to kill him last.

The question surprised him. Why? Why else would he have done this? He shook his head. “Theo couldn’t take this and took himself down. Mariposa took over the dreaming City as Queen but even to anyone who defies her she will execute them.” In a way that was all, he had been doing: taking out those that defied him. Some went down easier than others. Ikora went down fighting like he had expected of her which was easier on the former warlock. She got to go out the way she wanted to. Others didn’t go so peacefully. Zavala was one of those as was Eris despite Eris meaning he tore his way through more than enough Hive to fill the moon and then some just to get to her.

A sound brought his attention back to the present, back to the wind-whipped ice cliffs of Europa and the hunter in front of him. “You ask why I did this Malphur, why I killed all those people?” He glanced to Drifter than over again as his optics darkened, a sight that had Drifter backing away from him out of fear of what was potentially coming, “I did it because it had to be done. I don’t claim to be able to make a new world but here we now have no strife, no conflicts…it’s as close to peace as we will ever get in this system,” Holding one clawed gauntlet out to him Luck smiled, “You can join us, or die like them right here. With your blood staining the snow of this moon red.” It wasn’t a stupid offer. He could outdo Shin’s light with the darkness, keep him from using the golden gun unless he really wanted him to, and kill him if he turned on him. “So what will it be?”

The hunter before him holstered the cannon he had pulled and took the Exo’s hand, much to the Drifter’s amazement. The three of them would stay together until the end and when that came, well, they all knew how that was going to happen and it wasn’t going to be to the Man with the Golden Gun.


	8. Tyrant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 8:Tyrant featuring again fire team BlackLight.  
> After all the mess with Clovis Bray the team has a decent talk about what is and isn't a tyrant. As well as who is and isn't.

Clovis Bray was a tyrant. There was no other way to think about it. Everything he had done was to the point that it made her two teammates sick to think that they were products from his experiments. Neither of them was willing to stay on Europa after learning of all of it so the hunter suggested that they take to the skies and go find something else to do. Elisabeth seemed to understand and bid them safe travels till they felt like coming back to the Jovian moon.

The comms were quiet as they sped back towards Earth until she broke the silence. “You guys doing okay?” She wasn’t expecting a response right away. They had given her the same respect then they went to the Dreaming City after she had taken down Uldren Sov. “I know this is probably a lot to take in…”

She felt like she was talking to herself until the comm lit up and one of them responded to her comments. “Yeah I’m holding up…don’t know about Theo but I’m holding up…” It was the warlock, He had been the quietest one when they left; the Titan had been fuming. Granted, he hadn’t snapped at the Stranger but he was bitching about Bray and what he had done the whole way there from the Exo-labs. “he isn’t the first tyrant we handled though…Remember there was another tyrant…” After all that had happened it wasn’t easy to take about it.

The comm from Theo crackled slightly as if he was coming back to his controls, “Rasputin. Rasputin was also a tyrant…” the usual sun breaker heaved a sigh, “Speaking of Rasputin when dealing with Exos brings up Felwinter…do you think…that Rasputin built Felwinter to combat whatever it was that he knew Bray was doing?” The question was ideological but a valid point. There were no real explanations for why Felwinter seemed to be the only Exo they knew of that was directly connected to Rasputin.

Zaazi sat back and stared up at the panels above her head, “No one will ever know. I mean with Rasputin being taken out and all… the only one that would know anything possibly would be Charlemagne but he’s too corrupted to know much of anything at this point…” There truly were no real connections to the Warmind anymore but that was beside the point. Now they were on to the topic of what counts as a tyrant; to which they all had very different ideas. “I don’t think Oryx was a tyrant Theo…He was the Taken King but not really a tyrant…” The huntress reclined her seat slightly and stretched, feeling her arms and back pop as she did so.

Theo on the other hand grumbled something, “I’m surprised you haven’t called the Commander a tyrant!” That set both of the Exos laughing as the awoken started to get annoyed. They knew she didn’t care for the commander and were now having their fun poking at her for it. “Nah I’m kidding…honestly I would label the Commander a Dictator lately more than a tyrant. If Zavala were to become a tyrant though, I can think of a few people who would set him straight pretty quick…” They all made sounds of agreement to the statement as they approached the tower landing zone. Best they leave the talk about the Commander and tyrants in the ships and not take it to the Tower.


	9. Blooming Gardens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 8: Blooming Gardens featuring Zaazi Genj the hunter.  
> Memories, like the sweet scents of flowers can be bittersweet if they have once been shared with good friends.

It was one of the Zaazi’s favorite places: The Gardens of the Dreaming City. Especially when the Queensfoil was blooming. She may have been a corsair but that didn’t mean she didn’t like to come and sit up there amongst the trees when she wasn’t on duty. Or to play hooky from work. “Zaazi! Where are you?!” Her comm crackled as She pushed herself up onto her elbows. “Corsair Zaazi! Respond!”

She had been taking a long-deserved nap but she wasn’t the only one. As the voice continued to blast through her comm channel she reached over and shoved the Corsair next to her, “Oi, P.V, wake up. I think Chi is looking for us. she’s getting mad.” That made the woman next to her snort with laughter as Petra opened her eyes and looked at her. They both knew that Shuro Chi was the techeuns who was a stickler for the rules. Laying back down she folded her hand behind her head, “You ever think we’ll see the outside of this place?” It was a stupid question, Petra had seen the outside of the City, she had seen the home of the Guardians and had come back with some impressive stories. Zaazi hadn’t been that lucky. She was still relegated to patrol duty inside the City bounds but at least the two of them got to do their patrols together.

Petra ran a hand back through her hair, carding out the few leaves that had managed to somehow make it past her hood, “Maybe someday you’ll make it out of here. You’re a strong capable Corsair. You’re little young still, but I have a feeling someday you’ll get to see the outside of the Reef,” She laughed then continued, “Hey, maybe you’ll get recognized enough to become a guardian! Now wouldn’t THAT be something!” She started laughing again as Zaazi reached over and shoved her before laughing as well. Soon both of the corsairs got up to the feet, taking care to not step on the budding flowers near them as they found their way back to the path, still laughing over Petra’s comment about her being a guardian.

-

The Gardens were quieter than she recalled them being as she finished off the Hive shrieker with her scout rifle. With no groundskeepers, they had gone to the Hive. Literally. “This place…” They reached the top of the gardens and she sat down under a dying tree. “Petra and I…when we were Corsairs would come up here to play hooky from the Techeuns…” It felt so surreal to be back there but everything had changed since she went on that one Corsair mission that was her last, her demise. Her ghost settled in her palm as she summoned him, “She made a joke once…about me being a guardian…if only I could tell her I remember that conversation, that I remember her making that joke…” She felt like she wanted to cry. They had only joked about it back then, but now she was an actual guardian, The hunter of wolves and devils. 

Closing her eyes she leaned back and took a deep breath. She could almost smell the Queensfoil blooming in the gardens again.


	10. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 10: Blood featuring Jack-21 and mentions of the Sanguine Immortal Raiding Party.  
> Blood is blood even if some people's is engineered and not completely organic. It still makes them tick and losing too much is a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm horribly late, but I intend to continue Destcember to the end.

He wasn’t sure what had happened. Nothing was registering at first. His audio receptors were making a high pitched either ringing or whining in his head. He couldn’t discern which it was at the moment and in all honesty, he was in too much pain to do so. “Guardian?” That voice, that was his ghost. Where was she? There was so much smoke he couldn’t see clearly. Maybe it was also his cracked visor that was making vision nearly impossible.

Moving a hand up, he undid the latch of his helmet and pulled it off, “Spades…” His voice was a raspy whisper; crackling with static as he tried to move his arm to push himself up. It protested badly but held his weight as he managed to reach a close to sitting position, “Over…over here…” He felt weak, weaker than he had felt before, and was quickly losing strength. It felt close to when he lost his light.

He started to feel better when Spades approached him, scanning him with clear concern in her eye yet something felt off. “Hey, welcome back…we’ve crashed on the surface of Europa…when I say ‘we’ I mean the space station we were on crashed…with all six of us on it…plus Taniks” She shook her eye as the scan concluded, “you’re injured…” Glancing down, her light caught the sight of a slowly growing stain on his armor. It was about the size of her shell at the moment though the more he moved the worse it would get, “Oh no… Jack, you’re bleeding.”

Bleeding? He couldn’t bleed, he was an Exo. It took most of what he had to hold himself upright as he moved his hand to find the spot she was looking at. It felt wet to his gloved fingers surrounding something that was stuck in him. He gripped whatever it was and pulled, feeling the shrapnel come out in one solid piece. Raising his hand, the warlock could see some of it was on his fingers after he dropped the shrapnel so he raised it to his face and sniffed it, “It smells….like Radiolaria…” His head rested against the debris behind him, “Is…everyone else okay?” Despite his ghost’s protests and the pain in his arm, he tried his hardest to get to his feet only to find that one of his feet wasn’t working the way it should; causing him to fall sideways into what he was pretty sure was a wall. He could see a few ghosts not far from him finally resurrecting their guardians after locating them under the rubble.

It was a sad sight and sounding scene; the groans of pain that echoed, mixing with the static crackle of the broken machinery but the warlock kept pushing on even though the pain got worse. The stain was getting more saturated and no matter how much his ghost told him he needed to take it slow he kept saying his team was more important, “You’re bleeding! Doesn’t it occur to you that your blood doesn't clot like that of a human? You’ll bleed out before you can save all of them!” She sounded scared, more scared than he had heard her during the Red War, “I don’t know if I can save you if you bleed out…You’ll be no use to your team if you do though!” That got him to stop and look at her, his one hand coming to rest on the wound once again. NO use holding pressure to it, it wasn’t like he could stop his bleeding.

It was larger than his hand now; milky white and slightly reflective on the fabric. He had no words for his ghost, none at all as he heard the rubble being moved by those who could free themselves so he sat down on a chunk of debris, bending over to pick up something off the ground. It was a hand cannon, by its weight it felt powerful yet snappy, “Think a rez would fix it? Like a proper rez where I’m NOT impaled again?” He sounded curious yet sounded mildly concerned. Talking and moving was taking a lot out of him.

Spades looked between the cannon and the warlock as he loaded it. “Only one way to find out…I’ll see you on the other side if that’s what you plan on doing…” She couldn’t bring herself to watch him do this so she turned away from him, shell flinching as the gunshot echoed mutely. Turning back around she waited a minute to make sure he was dead before rezzing him back to full health, “Well, it worked…you’re still going to have that bloodstain on your robes but…small price to pay right?” He nodded and headed off to find the others who were gathering, holstering the cannon on his belt as he did so.


End file.
